Gainesville police are crediting observant bystanders with thwarting what appeared would be a convenience store hold-up.

By Karen VoylesStaff writer

Gainesville police are crediting observant bystanders with thwarting what appeared would be a convenience store hold-up.At 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, an anonymous caller dialed 911 to report seeing a man with a gun in the front waistband of his pants walking in the Phoenix subdivision in the 2600 block of S.W. 31st Place. The caller also provided additional details about the apparently armed man's appearance and the direction he was heading.Police spokesman Lt. Keith Kameg said an unknown woman flagged down Officer Billy Long when he drove into the area and told him, "The guy you are looking for is near the store," referring to a nearby convenience store.Long said he saw a man matching the description of the gun-carrying man walking away from a dumpster outside the store.Long identified Todayo Kimyoland Facey and arrested him on an outstanding Columbia County warrant for improper exhibition of a weapon.Meanwhile, Officer Martin Honeycutt checked the dumpster that Facey was seen walking away from, police said, and Honeycutt found two weapons — a .22-caliber Derringer and a foot-long butcher knife, Kameg said.Facey reportedly admitted the weapons were his and said he had them with him because he had been in a disturbance with an unidentified woman.Kameg said Facey has a criminal record that includes a felony conviction in New York for a weapons-related crime.